OUR VIEW: Youth court system needs private funding

Thursday

Last summer, 17-year-old Tigan Hollingsworth was chased down, beaten and stabbed 13 times following an altercation outside a Taunton convenience store.

Last summer, 17-year-old Tigan Hollingsworth was chased down, beaten and stabbed 13 times following an altercation outside a Taunton convenience store.

Three men ranging in age from 17 to 25 were charged with the brutal killing, while two women were charged as accomplices.

Hollingsworth’s death — and the 2008 murder of 16-year-old Devon Hodo in Taunton’s Memorial Park — highlight the need for programs that keep young people on the right track and intervene before it’s too late.

Here in Bristol County, we have such a program. But its young life may also be cut short, not by a bullet or a knife — but by a budget. Since 2002, Bristol County has pioneered youth courts in Massachusetts. In fact, 1,250 youthful offenders, ages 8-16, have been held accountable for relatively minor — mainly first-time — offenses, including assault, alcohol-related issues, petty theft, graffiti “tagging” and shoplifting.

Under this alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system, youth are referred by police, the District Attorney’s Office, or school officials. They are held accountable by a jury of their peers, which imposes sanctions ranging from community service (they have logged 36,000 community service hours), to writing formal apology letters to the victim and even becoming a juror in future sessions. Although an admission of guilt is a prerequisite of the program (after all, its success is based upon taking accountability and righting a wrong to the victim and the community), the offenders also receive representation from volunteer youth attorneys. They use a holistic approach — involving families — to correct bad behavior. The traditional system breaks up families and can turn troubled kids into hardened criminals.

The youth court concept is based on the model of restorative justice, which seeks to hold the offender accountable to the victim and the community, rather than the traditional punitive justice system. These courts are a growing trend across the country. In fact, while the three Bristol County Youth Courts are the only ones in Massachusetts, there are 1,100 such programs in 49 states.

On Tuesday, elected officials, educators, public safety officials and youth participants of the program called attention to the funding shortfall for the program, which forced the closure of the Taunton Youth Court in February. The new Fall River Youth Court, established in 2009, has been operating at a deficit for the past two months. In its first year, the court served 60 cases — like Taunton — and if it survives past April, it is projected to handle 50 to 75 cases in its second year.

New Bedford Youth Court, Bristol County’s first, has been picking up some of Fall River’s funding slack. The New Bedford program, which processes 120 cases per year, is also endangered and only has enough money to continue through June.

This is a program that deserves both government and community support. A program that is rooted in community should not be funded by government dollars alone, but also through private funding sources, such as community donations, grants and foundations.

According to supporters of the program, the cost of sending an offender through the Youth Courts system — a four-month process involving case and community monitoring and support services — is a $1,000 to $1,200 commitment versus $10,000 for four months in the DYS system.

It’s a relatively small investment that works. The program boasts a 92 percent compliance rate, 85 percent of the defendants do not re-offend within a year and 70 percent stay clean after three years.

Bristol County Youth Courts need about $300,000 to stay alive. As state lawmakers grapple with the state’s massive budget woes, they must not ignore the cost savings such programs could yield, while also strengthening communities and families.

In the meantime, Bristol County’s Youth Courts need private support to survive.
A donation to the Youth Courts system in memory of Tigan Hollingsworth, Devon Hodo, or in honor of another young person that could be (or could have been) saved by this program, might be a fitting tribute and a way to feel empowered to fight back against crime. Donations for the Bristol County Youth Courts may be sent to New Bedford Youth Court, 360 Coggeshall St., New Bedford, MA 02746.

Your donation to this powerful and effective program might just save our community from having to bury another young person. Isn’t that worth it?

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